A Lot to Learn
by pretend-I-don't-exist
Summary: After the war Draco and Harry become friends as their hatred and differences seem to melt away. Both tired of being controlled by other peoples wishes they decide to let loose and have fun.
1. The challenge

Authors Note: All characters and settings belong to the queen JK Rowling. I am just a pawn in her wonderful world of Harry Potter. Rated T for later chapters. Enjoy

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><p>After the post battle celebrations had died down and the great hall had cleared the brunette made his way to his usual seat in the great hall. Though the tables had all been destroyed in the battle and everything else cleared out for the celebration, he knew exactly where his seat was or should have been. He sat on the floor. He sat just thinking, unaware of the blonde who was quickly closing the gap between them. It wasn't until the blonde cleared his throat he even knew there was anyone else around. Harry nearly jumped up from where he sat. He turned his head to face Draco, and for the first time green eyes met grey with not hatred filling either pair, just the shared sadness. Both teens knew that as much as was gained by this victory the same amount if not more was lost. "Harry", began the blonde. "Not now Draco, not now" was the only response he got. Harry then stood and left the great hall. Draco, shaking his head, more at the fact he had butterflies from Harry addressing him by his first name than at the fact he had been dismissed.<p>

The next fall…

"It's really a funny thing", Hermione said to Ron and Harry as they sat around the fire in the Gryffindor common room on their first day back. "What is?" Ron asked looking at her skeptically, probably wondering if he should've asked. Knowing he might get an hours long explanation. "Just the way everything is now. Everyone seems to have completely forgotten all the years of hatred and division between the houses and even the people themselves." Hermione said this more to herself than Ron. This earned a snort from Harry's side of the room. "What?" Hermione asked looking slightly confused. "Nothing" Harry grumbled as he got up and exited the porthole out into the stair well. "Nothing at all", he thought.

Draco was walking down the corridor with a small private smile on his face. "Draco", he kept hearing his voice inside his head. Not in the, I'm going crazy way. No, when he heard it in his head it was in Harry's voice. His name, he decided, had never sounded better. As he rounded the corner still recalling the way his name had sounded out of the brunettes' mouth he smacked into some one. Normally Draco wouldn't have paid any mind to this person but as it was he was in a good mood so he thought "why not"? As he opened his mouth to apologize, for the second time his eyes met a pair of emerald colored eyes, so piecing and clear. For the second time he thought his heart would burst from happiness. That was until he saw the small frown on Harry's face. "I'M SORRY!" he blurted out, thinking it was his lack of apology before that had caused the frown. Silently cursing himself for lacking the Malfoy grace that ran in his family. Why was it he had perfect manners everywhere else but couldn't even manage to be the slightest bit of a gentleman where it mattered? All those thoughts disappeared as if they had apparated some where else the second he caught the glimmer of amusement that flashed through the emerald eyes staring at him.

Harry couldn't help but smile when he saw how flustered Dra- Malfoy had gotten when he had run into Harry. In his head he questioned what he should be addressing Mal-, Dra-, the other boy as. He had called him by his first name the night after the battle but only because he hadn't been focused. However the other had responded with his first name. All his questions were gone as Draco looked at him with a sheepish grin and said, "I didn't see you there Harry". As both boys brushed themselves off from the prior collision Draco took this time to let his eyes wander over Harry's body. He started at the other teen's messy hair and traveled down to his shoes. As he was doing this he got the feeling he was being watch. He jerked his head up and saw Harry looking at him with a slightly bemused look on his face. Draco blushed, when Harry cocked his head as if to question what the hell he was doing. He looks good with some color in his cheeks Harry thought to himself. "Err.. so I was going for a walk, do you want to come?" Harry inwardly groaned at how awkwardly he had said that. He glanced up quickly to steal a glance a Draco's face and was surprised to se a small smile playing the corners of the others mouth. His own mouth then mirroring Draco's as he heard a soft "yes" come from the blonde.

"Oh god", Draco thought. "What have I gotten myself into?" Draco couldn't trust himself around Harry. The butterflies and the blushing would only get worse the longer he was with the other teen. He couldn't stand the thought of Harry finding out and ruining there newly found yet almost non-existent friendship. "WHAT IF WE GET CAUGHT?", Draco said, a little bit more frantically than intended. "Shit", he thought to himself they had barely moved and he was already flustered. At least he had a way out of this. He calmed his nerves thinking he had a foolproof way out of any disasters that could occur if he went along on this little walk. His heart sank when he heard Harry say, "I've got it covered." Admittedly Draco could feel a sliver of delight as the prospect of hanging out with Harry, alone, popped back into his head. "What do you mean, you've got it covered?" "Just because you are the "golden boy" doesn't mean Filch won't kill you if he finds us just wandering around after hours. He immediately regretted his whole "golden boy" reference thinking he had just ruined everything by hitting a raw nerve until he heard a soft chuckle from the other boy.

"I guess he doesn't remember my cloak", Harry thought. Turning to Draco he asked, "Remember when you broke my nose?" He noticed a slight blush creeping into the others cheeks at this. Gods Draco was so hot. "SHIT!" "Where had that thought come from?" "Yea" a puzzled Draco answered startling him out of his internal panic attack brought on by thinking of Draco as "hot". "Well?" Draco prompted slightly confused and annoyed. "Well, the invisibility cloak I had on was mine and it's not like I just gave that away." Harry fought the urge to laugh as he saw understanding dawn on Draco's face. "Oh" was all Draco said. "Don't tell me you're so against breaking the rules?" Harry teased the blonde.

For a brief moment Draco thought Harry was annoyed by his apprehension until he saw a flash of humor in the deep green eyes. He smiled and said, "Of course not. It's you who should be worried. What with chancing your perfect behavior record with the teachers and all." Once again Harry surprised Draco by letting out a small chuckle. "What?", he demanded. Harry looked at him a more serious expression on his face. "Is that who you really think I am? You don't think I have ever broken a rule before. Just because people want to put me up on a pedestal doesn't mean I belong there." The serious expression melted into a challenging smile. "I think you're in for a serious shock Draco" Harry laughed as he took of down the corridor. Looking back over his shoulder he shouted breathlessly, "You have a lot to learn."


	2. The Morning After

A/N Here's chapter two. Sorry for the wait and all. I'm not sure how I feel about this so far. Feedback, both positive and negative, welcome. This chapter is **VERY** short as is my attention span lately. Things have been rough so this is the result of it.

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><p>Draco collapsed into his bed around 3:45 the next morning. Physically exhausted yet more emotionally awake than he had been in forever. He no longer felt numb. It was as if someone had lifted a silencing that had effected not only is hearing but all his other senses. Everything seemed brighter, louder, and more inviting. He sighed. Gods, he never knew Harry, out of all people, knew how to have fun. He smiled as he played back their night. Falling asleep to memories of the cold autumn air against his face and Harry's laughter filling his ears. He fell asleep happy and content for the first time in years. Across the castle up in the Gryffindor tower Harry was replaying the night as well. His mind filled with memories of the moonlight shining on Draco's hair and the way the other boy seemed to move effortlessly like he could defy gravity. He laughed softly to himself as he remembered sharing some butterbeers he had gotten from Seamus. Soon he too drifted off into a comfortable sleep with the lingering feeling of bubbling happiness in his chest.<p>

The next morning Draco woke to some one smacking him in the face with a pillow. He tried to shield his head with his arms but the beating persisted. "What do you want?" he asked annoyed. Not even having to look to see who it was. This happened every Saturday morning without fail. Pansy was never the patient kind, so when it came to the weekends she was always up and ready to go before Draco even considered a normal hour. "Come on Draco", Pansy whined. "Get up. It's a Hogsmeade weekend. I want to get going so we have the whole day to do whatever." Draco groaned and mumbled a few profanities before he swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. "Fine, I'm up. Get out while I get changed." Pansy opened her mouth to say more but quickly turned on her heel when she saw Draco's famous "Don't push your luck" look. "See you in 10 minutes", she called back to him as the door to the boys dorms slammed shut behind her.

Harry rolled over and cast a tempus charm to check the time. "SHIT!" he thought. "11:55 am." He cast a quick glance over to his right and left to find he was not the only "8th year" boy to have overslept. "Ron, Ron, wake up!" Harry called over to his best friend, voice still hoarse from sleep. "Whaa", was all he received. "Come on get your lazy arse up Hermione said she wanted to meet us in the great hall at 12 so we could all go to hogsmeade together for lunch." At the mention of Hermione's name Ron perked up a bit. Harry laughed quietly as he watched his ginger friend stumble around trying to get dressed while still more than half asleep. After a minute or two of watching Ron try to put his head through the armhole of his shirt Harry turned around and started to get ready himself. He started to pull on an old worn out grey t-shirt that was, no doubt, a left over hand-me-down from Dudley when he started to panic. "What if Draco goes to Hogsmeade this weekend?" He thought. "Well of course he's going, nobody passes up the opportunity unless they are sick." He reasoned. "Maybe I should wear something nicer then" His thoughts where jumbled in his brain coming and going almost to fast for him to comprehend what he was thinking. Then, his thoughts came to a sudden halt, as if they had run into the wall at platform 9¾ after Dobby had sealed it. Why was he worrying about all of this. They were just friends. It's not like he needed to impress the other boy.

Fifteen minutes later, which was a new record for them, Ron and Harry finally rushed into the great hall to find Hermione sitting at Gryffindor table calmly reading over what looked to be her advanced charms homework or was it her advance ancient runes homework? It's not as if either boy paid enough attention in any of their classes to know at a glance what she was reading. "Ah, you two are early", she said with an easy smile. "I thought you said 12", Harry said slightly confused. "I did", she laughed, "but when it comes to you guys I figure 12 might as well mean 12:30 or even 1 on a particularly slow day." Ron rolled his eyes at this and Harry merely shrugged. "Well, let's go now, shall we?" Hermione said after having one last chuckle at the expense of her two best friends. They all turned and headed out towards Hogsmeade, Harry not even noticing a certain tall blonde watching him carefully as he departed from the great hall.


End file.
